Bitcoin Price Falls Below $80K, Along With Wall Street BTC Miner Results in February 2024
The largest U.S. cryptocurrency companies listed on Wall Street reported a decline in Bitcoin (BTC) mining volumes in February compared to January, citing a shorter month and network difficulties as the reasons.
In addition, the drop in revenue is due to the sharp correction in BTC prices last month, when the oldest cryptocurrency lost 18% and temporarily fell below $80,000. According to the latest report from JP Morgan, this had a very negative impact on the market capitalization of mining companies.
Wall Street Bitcoin Miners Face Production Slump in February
Cipher Mining Inc. (NASDAQ: CIFR) mined about 180 bitcoins in February, down from 219 in January. The company attributed the decline in part to a temporary scheduled outage at its Odessa facility for annual high-voltage power grid maintenance.
MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) saw a 6% decline in monthly bitcoin mining, mining 706 BTC in February compared to 750 in January. The company cited increased network difficulty and fewer business days as the main reasons for the decline.
Fred Thiel, CEO of MARA, Source: LinkedIn
“Our average daily Bitcoin production increased by 4% in February compared to January,” said Fred Thiel, chairman and CEO of MARA. “While blocks were won, total Bitcoin production was down 6% compared to the previous month, primarily due to higher network difficulty and three business days.”
As Finance Magnates reported yesterday, Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), the second-largest miner by market cap alongside MARA, also saw production decline. In February, its output fell 11% to 470 BTC.
Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) reported mining 82 bitcoins in February, down from 88 in January, while its operational hashrate increased to 5.73 EH/s at the end of the month from 5.53 EH/s.
Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ/TSX: BITF) mined 213 bitcoins in February, the only miner to show a modest 6% increase from 201 in January. The company increased its operational hashrate by 20% to an average of 13.4 EH/s for the month.
Senior Vice President, Global Mining Operations Alex Brammer
“In February, we increased our operational hashrate by 6% to 16.1 EH/s and raised our average operational hashrate by 20% to 13.4 EH/s, reaching new all-time highs in three of our four countries,” said Alex Brammer, Senior Vice President of Global Mining Operations. “This growth will continue as we deploy miners in the US and Argentina and optimize performance across all of our data centers.”
Wall Street Bitcoin Miners Lose 22% of Market Cap
The decline in production comes amid broader challenges facing the cryptocurrency mining sector. A recent research note from JPMorgan highlighted that mining stocks tracked by the bank collectively lost 22% of their market capitalization in February as the falling price of Bitcoin undermined the economics of mining.
Despite these challenges, some mining companies are considering diversification strategies. For example, Canaan has introduced a new home mining machine called the Avalon Q, aimed at individual users with a 90 TH/s unit compatible with standard home power supplies.
Nangeng Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Canaan
“Notably, this is the first professional Bitcoin miner that supports 110V home power, which is convenient for hobbyists and expands our audience to home users,” said Nangeng Zhang, chairman and CEO of Canaan. “This new addition to our Avalon Home series is now available for pre-order on our website, with shipments expected in April 2025.”
Despite the various challenges miners face, 2024 has been a record year for many of them. A prime example is MARA, which in late February reported record financial results for the past year, increasing revenue by 70% to nearly $660 million.
Source: cryptonews.net
